Wet wipe refill

ABSTRACT

A wet wipe refill for a dispenser is disclosed. The wet wipe refill includes a package housing containing wet wipes. A closure is removably attached to the package housing and coupled to a first wet wipe. Upon removal of the closure from the package housing to open the package housing, the first wet wipe is pulled from the package housing thereby providing an accessible portion outside of the package housing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/147,217 filed Jan. 26, 2009, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in entirety.

STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to refills for a dispenser such as a wet wipe dispenser.

Wet wipes are pre-moistened pieces of cloth or paper which may be used to clean surfaces or skin. Typically, wet wipes are a single-use disposable product which are desirable for cleaning when the user (1) wants to ensure the sterile nature of the cleaning product or (2) would not want to subsequently handle or reuse the cleaning product. Wet wipes have found various market niches including in restaurants, household cleaning, and diaper changing.

For bulk use, wet wipes may be provided in a dispenser with a bundle of wipes contained therein. The dispenser typically includes a cover which, when flipped open, reveals a tear throat. The wet wipes are pulled through the tear throat and single wipes are separated from the bundle. When the wet wipes are completely consumed, the dispenser may be designed to receive refills.

However, there are a number of problems with wet wipe replacement systems. For one, to retain moisture in the wet wipes, any refills must be sealed prior to insertion in the dispenser. Upon opening, the user must find a way to remove the first wipe from the refill so that the first wipe may be threaded through the tear throat. This often requires the user to handle the wet wipes in a manner which may compromise the sterility of the wet wipes as well as be an unpleasant experience for the user.

For example, the wipe refill may operate similarly to a facial tissue box in which the user must reach in through a slit and pull the first wipe from the package. This requires the user fish around in the wipe package to pinch and pull the first wipe. Additionally, the user may pinch and remove more than one wet wipe as it is difficult to pinch only a single item in a bundle of items.

Hence, a need exists for improved refills. In particular, there is a need for a refill in which the dispensable product is easily pulled from the refill in a manner that does not compromise the sterility of the product and does not result in the waste of product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An improved refill is disclosed that automatically pulls the first dispensable product from the packaging upon opening the refill. By pulling the product out of the refill packaging, the user does not need to insert his or her hands into the packaging to fish for the first dispensable product. This maintains the sterility of the products within the package housing and reduces the likelihood that the user will extract more than one item when initiating the feed.

The wet wipe refill includes a package housing containing wet wipes and a closure. The closure is removably attached to the package housing and coupled to the first wet wipe. Upon removal of the closure from the package housing to open the package housing, a first wet wipe is pulled from the package housing thereby providing an accessible portion outside of the package housing.

By connecting the closure to the first dispensable product, the first product is pulled from the packaging upon opening the refill. The removed exposed end may then be easily threaded through a tear throat or the like to insert the refill into the dispenser.

These and still other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description and drawings. What follows is merely a description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. To assess the full scope of the invention the claims should be looked to as this preferred embodiments are not intended to be the only embodiments within the scope of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional dispenser for wet wipes;

FIG. 2 is a exploded perspective view of the dispenser of FIG. 1 in which the roll of wet wipes is shown being inserted into the dispenser;

FIG. 3 is a depiction of the improved wet wipe refill in which the refill is closed;

FIG. 4 is the refill of FIG. 3 in which the refill has been opened and the first wet wipe is pulled from the refill; and

FIG. 5 is another refill in which a closure is integrally formed on an edge of a pouch;

FIG. 6 is the refill of FIG. 5 in which the refill is being opened;

FIG. 7 is a refill similar to FIG. 5, but in which the closure is formed at the corner of the pouch;

FIG. 8 is the refill similar to FIG. 7, but in which the refill is being opened; and

FIG. 9 is a detailed view of one form of the connection between the first wet wipe and the closure in which an intermediate element is used to couple the two together.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a coreless roll 10 of disposable wet wipes is provided in a conventional dispenser 12. The dispenser 12 has an open end 18 into which the roll 10 is inserted as shown in FIG. 2. Once the roll 10 is inserted into the dispenser 12, a lid or cover 14 may be threaded or otherwise attached onto the open end 18.

Before securing the cover 14 onto the open end 18 of the dispenser 12, a free end of a first wet wipe 22 may be threaded through a tear throat 16 on the cover 14 so that an accessible portion of the wet wipe extends from the tear throat 16. During use, a user pulls a wipe from the dispenser 12. As the wipe is pulled, the tear throat 16 separates a single wipe from the rest of the roll 10, for example, by breaking a perforation 20 between two adjacent wipes. In the form shown, the first wet wipe 22 pulled from the roll 10 is centrally located on the roll 10 and subsequent pulling causes the wipes to be pulled radially inward and upward as they are dispensed from the roll 10.

A hinged cap 24 or the like may be selectively drawn over the tear throat 16 to seal the inside of the dispenser 12 when it is not in use. When closed, this cap 24 will reduce the rate at which moisture leaves the wet wipes and isolate the inside of the dispenser 12 from the surrounding atmosphere. There may be sufficient play between the hinged cap 24 and the structure into which the hinged cap 24 secured into such that a wet wipe may be pinched therebetween.

It will be appreciated that the dispenser 12 of FIGS. 1 and 2 and the mode of operation are provided for illustrative purposes of the general operation of one type of a wet wipe dispenser. Now, with additional reference to FIGS. 3-8, improved wet wipe refills for such a dispenser are described.

Referring to FIGS. 3-4, an improved wet wipe refill 130 is shown that may be inserted into the dispenser 12. The wet wipe refill 130 includes a plurality of wet wipes in the form of a coreless roll 110 contained within a package housing 132. The package housing 132 may be composed of flexible material, such as a film or foil, that is generally impervious to moisture. In the form shown, the package housing 132 is a pouch with four edges. This pouch may be made by folding a flat sheet of material over on itself, such that the roll 110 is located therebetween, and forming a seal (for example, by heat sealing) around the outer periphery. In other forms, the wet wipe refill may be a box type pouch. If the wet wipe refill is of a box type then it may have a packaging housing which is composed of a firmer or substantially rigid material such as, for example, fibrous, cardboard, or polymeric material. If the dispensable product contains moisture, then the package housing may include a moisture barrier layer to maintain the structural integrity of the box walls.

An opening 134 is formed in one of the walls of the package housing 132. This opening 134 may be formed in any number of ways including, for example, by die cutting. In some forms, a slit in the wall of the package housing 132 may provide a sufficiently large opening. As shown in FIG. 4, the opening 134 provides a passageway through which the wet wipes are pulled as they are dispensed from the coreless roll 110 inside the wet wipe refill 130.

A closure 136 is removably attached to the package housing 132, as illustrated in FIG. 3, and is further coupled to the first wet wipe 122. Notably, upon the removal of the closure 136 from the package housing 132 to open the package housing 132, the first wet wipe 122 is pulled from the package housing 132 (as the end of the wet wipe 122 is coupled to the closure 136) thereby providing an accessible portion of at least one of the wet wipes outside of the package housing 132. The accessible portion of the free end may then be threaded through the tear throat 16 of the dispenser 12 during insertion of the wet wipe refill 130 in the dispenser 12 or the like.

It is contemplated that the closure 136 may be removed before threading the wet wipes through the tear throat 16, by, for example, separating the first wet wipe 122 at a first perforation line between the first wet wipe 122 and a second wet wipe in the series of connected wet wipes. Alternatively, the closure 136 while still attached to the first wet wipe 122 may be fed through the tear throat 16 and may even be specially adapted to make feeding the closure 136 through the tear throat 16 more convenient.

There are many ways in which the first wet wipe 122 may be coupled to the closure 136. Attachment may be achieved using an adhesive, heat, sonic welding, a mechanical fastener such as a staple, or the like. Further, an intermediate element may be attached to the first wet wipe 122 which is also attached to the closure 136. In any event, the attachment should be sufficiently strong such that when the closure 136 is pulled to open the wet wipe refill 130, the first wet wipe 122 is withdrawn from the package housing 132.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a preferred form of attachment of the first wet wipe 922 to the closure 936 is illustrated in detail. According to this form, the first wet wipe 922 is stapled using one or more staples 950 to an intermediate element 960. The intermediate element 960 is a flat sheet-like object that is then affixed a surface 938 of the closure 936. The intermediate element 960 may be affixed to the closure 936 in a number of ways including, for example, by pressure-sensitive adhesive or by selectively applying heat to bond the intermediate element 960 to the closure 936. The portion of the surface 938 not attached to the intermediate element 960 may have a pressure-sensitive adhesive for attachment to a package housing as described elsewhere in this application. However, in the event that the same type of adhesive is used to bond the intermediate element 960 to the closure 936 as is used to bond the closure 960 to the package housing, then the materials and adhesive should be selected such that the strength of the adhesive bond between the intermediate element and the closure exceeds the strength of the adhesive bond between the closure and the package housing. Otherwise, the intermediate element may separate from the closure during the opening of the refill.

The form of attachment shown in FIG. 9 may be of particular benefit because the direct adhesion of a wet wipe to a closure may be difficult given the presence of moisture. By using an intermediate element 960, the wet wipe may be mechanically attached to the intermediate element and the intermediate element then separately attached to the closure thereby avoiding the problems associated with direct attachment.

Further, this coupling structure allows for attachment of the wet wipe by a staple or the like without directly attaching the staple through the closure itself. If the staple were directly attached to the closure, then the staple may be visible from the outside of the refill when the refill is in an unopened state. The use of the intermediate element allows for a more aesthetically pleasing appearance.

The closure may be a separate item that is attached over the opening 134 of the package housing 132 as shown in FIG. 3 or may be integrally formed in the package housing 232 as will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 7 below. In either case, the closure may substantially seal the wet wipe refill 130 to prevent exposure to the outside environment and preserve moisture within the refill 130.

In one form, the closure 136 may be a label with a pressure-sensitive adhesive applied to one side thereof. The label may be sized to be larger in area than the opening 134 such that when the adhesive side of the label is placed over the opening 134, a portion of the adhesive side of the label contacts an area of the exterior of the package housing 132 surrounding the periphery of the opening 134. The first wet wipe 122 may be attached to the label either via the pressure-sensitive adhesive or via an additional attachment (such as for example a mechanical fastener).

Referring now to FIGS. 5-8, a refill 230 is illustrated in which the first wipe 222 is connected to a perforated area 240 of the package housing 232 which serves as the closure and is also removable from the package housing 232 by tearing the perforated line 242. The perforated area 240 may be disposed along a seam between two top corners of the refill 230 as shown in FIG. 5 or may be disposed at a corner of the refill 230 as shown in FIG. 7. FIGS. 6 and 8 show the perforated area 240 after having been separated from the rest of the package housing 242 when the perforated line 242 has been broken. Alternatively or in addition to the perforated area 240, the package may include a perforation proximate the top edge of the package that extends for a portion or the entire length of the top edge (not shown).

In any case, during use, a user tears the perforated area 240 from the package housing 232 thereby pulling the first wipe 222 from the package housing 232. The perforated area 240 may be used to thread the first wipe 222 through the tear throat 16 of the dispenser 12.

Although the above disclosure refers to a refill for wet wipes, the refill may contain non-moist dispensable product. Further, although a coreless roll of wet wipes with perforations between the wipes is described, those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other forms of connectivity may be used between the dispensable product. For example, adjacent disposable products may be folded into one another in a manner similar to the way in which tissues are folded into one another in a tissue box such that when one product is pulled to remove it from the refill, the adjacent product is also pulled to provide an accessible portion of that product.

From the above disclosure it should be apparent that the refill package of the present invention permits easy installation and facilitates threading the first wipe through the tear throat of a separate canister lid. Further, this is achieved with little or no direct handling of the dispensable product by the end user.

It should be appreciated that various other modifications and variations to the preferred embodiments can be made within the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention should not be limited to the described embodiments. To ascertain the full scope of the invention, the following claims should be referenced. 

1. A wet wipe refill for a dispenser, the wet wipe refill comprising: a package housing containing a plurality of wet wipes including a first wet wipe; and a closure removably attached to the package housing and coupled to the first wet wipe; wherein, upon removal of the closure from the package housing to open the package housing, the first wet wipe is pulled from the package housing thereby providing an accessible portion of at least one of the plurality of wet wipes outside of the package housing.
 2. The wet wipe refill of claim 1, wherein the closure substantially seals the package housing before removal, thereby retaining any moisture in the package housing.
 3. The wet wipe refill of claim 1, wherein the closure is coupled to the first wet wipe by an intermediate element, the intermediate element being attached to the first wet wipe by a staple and the intermediate element being bonded to the closure.
 4. The wet wipe refill of claim 1, wherein the package housing includes an opening formed therein and the closure is removably attached over the opening.
 5. The wet wipe refill of claim 1, wherein closure is integral with the packaging housing.
 6. The wet wipe refill of claim 5, wherein a perforated line defines the closure on the package housing.
 7. The wet wipe refill of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wet wipes are attached to one another in series at perforated lines formed therebetween.
 8. The wet wipe refill of claim 1, wherein the packaging housing is a pouch.
 9. The wet wipe refill of claim 8, wherein the closure is attached to the package housing at an edge of the pouch.
 10. The wet wipe refill of claim 1, wherein the first wet wipe is affixed to the closure.
 11. A refill comprising: a package housing containing a plurality of dispensable products including a first dispensable product; and a closure removably attached to the package housing and coupled to the first dispensable product; wherein, upon removal of the closure from the package housing to open the package housing, the first dispensable product is pulled from the package housing.
 12. The refill of claim 11, wherein the dispensable products are wet wipes.
 13. The refill of claim 11, wherein the closure substantially seals the package housing before removal, thereby retaining any moisture in the package housing.
 14. The refill of claim 11, wherein the closure is coupled to the first dispensable product by an intermediate element, the intermediate element being attached to the first dispensable product by a staple and the intermediate element being bonded to the closure.
 15. The refill of claim 11, wherein the package housing includes an opening formed therein and the closure is removably attached over the opening.
 16. The refill of claim 11, wherein closure is integral with the packaging housing.
 17. The refill of claim 16, wherein a perforated line defines the closure on the package housing.
 18. The refill of claim 11, wherein the plurality of dispensable products are attached to one another in series at perforated lines formed therebetween.
 19. The refill of claim 11, wherein the packaging housing is a pouch.
 20. The refill of claim 19, wherein the closure is attached to the package housing at an edge of the pouch. 